Jada Pinkett Smith reveals Chris Rock ‘asked her out’ before Will slapped comic at the Oscars

JADA Pinkett Smith has revealed Chris Rock asked her out years before the comedian was shockingly slapped by Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars.

Jada confesses in her new memoir that she and her husband have been separated since 2016.

Jada Pinkett Smith attends Apple Original Films’ Emancipation Los Angeles premiere at Regency Village Theatre on November 30, 2022 in Los Angeles, CaliforniaCredit: Getty

Will Smith slaps Chris Rock onstage during the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, CaliforniaCredit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

In a preview of the book, Worthy, Jada shares that Chris, 58, asked her out on a date while rumors swirled that she and Will, 55, were divorcing.

The 52-year-old explained to People: “I think every summer all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce.”

“And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce,” she continued. “So he called me and basically he was like, ‘I’d love to take you out.”

Jada said she was surprised by the offer.

“I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘Well, aren’t you and Will getting a divorce?’ I was like, ‘No. Chris, those are just rumors.'”

The former SNL funnyman was embarrassed, according to Jada.

“He profusely apologized and that was that.”

THE SLAP

Years later, Will and Chris would come face-to-face at the Academy Awards, after the Wild Wild West star stormed the stage and slapped the presenter after the comedian made a poorly-received joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss.

The ex-SNL comedian was there to present an Oscar for Best Documentary when he appeared to go off-script.

“Jada, I love you, G. I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” Chris tried to joke.

Demi Moore famously shaved her head for her role in the 1997 movie.

Jada, on the contrary, has been struggling with hair loss for years, and last year decided to shave it all off.

Her husband, Will, took offense at the joke and jumped up on the stage before hitting the presenter with a right hook.

Jada, who had been sitting next to Will at the awards ceremony, told People: “I thought, ‘This is a skit.’

“I was like, ‘There’s no way that Will hit him.’ It wasn’t until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realized it wasn’t a skit.”

THE SPLIT

Elsewhere in the book, Jada revealed to Today that she and Will have been separated for years.

Hoda Kotb led the interview and said that the aspect of the book that shocked her the most, and one that she had to re-read, was that Jada and Will decided to “live completely separate lives” in 2016.

“It was not a divorce on paper, but it was a divorce,” she said.

Jada nodded her head and confirmed that it was true.

“So since 2016, which is seven years now, y’all have been apart?” Hoda, 59, asked.

“Yeah,” Jada, 52, nodded her head.

Will and Jada married in Baltimore, Maryland, on New Year’s Eve 1997 and share two kids together, Willow, 22, and Jaden, 25.

He has a son named Trey, 30, with his ex-wife, Sheree Zampino.

Jada shared that they weren’t ready to share the news publicly and were figuring out “how to be in a partnership” and that’s why she kept it private all these years.

Jada shared several secrets in an interview on TodayCredit: NBC News